Preparing and defending a thesis, from the beginning to the end, can be one of the most challenging aspects of a student’s academic career. From the long nights to inevitable snags that come along the way, students often need guidance to see their thesis to the end. That’s when the role of faculty mentor takes on greater significance.

Professors Sarah Todd (School of Social Work) and Gerald Grant (Sprott School of Business) have dedicated themselves to being that guiding force in a grad student’s career. Both professors are recipients of the Faculty Graduate Mentoring Award that recognizes professors who have gone above and beyond in their role as supervisors and research mentors to help their students succeed.

From their combined 30 years mentoring grad students, they’ve seen both the triumphs and challenges of this process and know how to be of assistance.

“The first part of the work is to orient students to the process and what their thesis defence is going to be like. Thesis writing is very self-directed, so I do a lot of working with students early on,” Todd says.

From there, as a mentor she needs to guide students through the various stages of research, such as ethics, setting up research questions, and interviewing participants. Then comes draft reading and preparing them for the defence.

But rarely does a thesis get finished without changes and revisions, she says, due to the very different structure from a traditional university paper. “Thesis writing is different than an essay . . . it isn’t finished until it’s defensible,” Todd says.

For Grant, he says his students are passionate and drawn to his area of expertise, but often fall into the trap of viewing a thesis like a problem to be solved.

“I supervise many mature students who have lots of work experience and tend to come from a practice, so doing research is new to them and somewhat against their orientation. The big thing you have to do is teach them how to think like a researcher rather than a manager or consultant,” he says.

His remedy? Putting time in with the student is key, Grant says, as well as pushing beyond a simple transactional task to develop a strong supervisor-student relationship.

Todd says one of her greatest challenges as a mentor is helping students make their thesis a priority among the many other pressing demands they have in their lives.

“Students are often hoping they’ll have more time next month, but in general next month turns out to be just as busy,” she says.

“That’s why they really appreciate regular meetings and feedback, feeling like they have somebody to check in with. It can be very isolating and lonely . . . but having somebody to sit down and strategize with really helps.”

If you’re interested in learning more about supervising grad students, the houses a number of resources for faculty including , as well as .

Whether you are pursuing your Master’s or PhD, actively searching for an academic job, or just settling into your shiny new faculty position, the early career of the aspiring teacher-scholar can be a bewildering experience. What are my professors’ expectations? How does one survive comprehensive exams or write 300 pages on one topic anyway? What professional development options are out there, and what specific options should aspiring teacher-scholars in my field pursue? What conferences should I attend, and what are the peer-reviewed journals and presses that I should court or shun?

Looking back, I see now that I never would have completed my doctorate or developed the CV I have now without the support of the mentors in my life. Undoubtedly, my professors were a crucial cog in that mentoring network; in particular, my supervisor was instrumental in advising me on issues such as the overall shape of my dissertation project, the conference venues, journals and presses I ought to target, and the job application process. Equally important, however, were the contributions of peers who volunteered their time and energy to mentor me, with no expectation of any return whatsoever. That spirit of collegial giving, of a disinterested commitment to a shared enterprise of learning and scholarship, is and always has been what makes academia so appealing for me.

At each stage of my doctorate – course work, comprehensive exams, and dissertation proposal, writing and defence – I leaned on the experience of peers who had recently climbed the mountain I was about to attempt. Among my fellow graduate students and conference attendees, I developed a network of peers who mentored me on a range of issues, from delivering papers to getting published to surviving the on-campus interview. I recall vividly, for instance, spending three hours on the phone with one such valued colleague the week before I had my first interview for an academic post. One runs out of encomiums for such people who donate their time, knowledge and support so freely.

One of the amazing outcomes of undergoing such experiences, above and beyond the completion of this or that specific daunting task, is the way mentoring becomes ingrained in your system. As I passed through each stage, I progressed, slowly but surely, from anxious mentee to wily veteran mentor. Not only did I feel that I had an obligation to provide the same level of support I had received, but I was convinced of its value, and I actively sought out avenues that would allow me to act on that conviction. Participating in my department’s Graduate Student Association was particularly rewarding in that sense, as it afforded me the opportunity to spearhead such mentoring initiatives. That same commitment to mentoring underwrites, too, my sense of myself as a teacher-scholar and administrator today.

A few years after competing my PhD, I now find myself working as an Educational Developer, where one of my main tasks is to oversee the . Funded by the and affiliated with select departments, the Mentor Program institutionalizes the kinds of relationships that most graduate students are traditionally left to stumble around in search of on their own. Tapping into their years of experience and knowledge of the institution and their discipline, the mentors are a source of knowledge and advice, helping TAs excel in their role and develop professional and teaching portfolios.

If your department is participating in the program, you owe it to yourself take advantage of this invaluable resource. All the survival guides in the world won’t serve you nearly as well as the advice and guidance of the people who are one step ahead of you on the same path, who remember the help they received from their mentors, and who in that spirit of disinterested collegiality are anxious to begin paying back that debt.

As someone who has spent much of their academic career working with university instructors in promoting teaching excellence, new faculty hires are of a particular interest to me. Part of that interest stems from the fact that new faculty members face significant challenges as they take on their first academic appointments. For example, despite the fact that many of these individuals have little, if any, teaching preparation, they can be assigned some of the most demanding teaching roles typically involving very large lecture courses.

In addition to teaching requirements, new faculty often encounter difficulties simply understanding the culture and structure of their university. While they may have encountered some elements of this culture as graduate students, the complexities of facing these elements as new faculty members can be bewildering.

Unlike many other professions where a period of internship precedes formal entrance into the profession – such as those typically found in the health professions or articling associated with the legal profession – new academics do not generally have an opportunity to develop the professional skills designed to help them transition into actual practice. This lack of preparation can often result in frustration and stress in the initial years of their appointment, which can serve as a significant barrier in building a strong foundation to their careers and positioning them well in terms of attaining tenure.

In order to assist new faculty in experiencing a productive first year, a number of Canadian universities have begun to explore formal mentoring programs. The response from new faculty has been generally very positive and many participants have experienced a much better adjustment and specific benefits, including high grant application success and greater comfort with their teaching assignments.

While mentoring is not altogether new in the university setting, much of what occurred in the past was informal and did not achieve the targeted outcomes. More formal programs generally have the support of key administrators, consider what kind of training a mentor may need, monitor progress and are more reflective in matching senior faculty with new hires.

Moreover, there is a growing belief that traditional models of mentoring characterized by one mentor and one mentee may not be the most effective approach. Increasingly, consideration is being given to models of mentoring that have a new faculty member interact with a number of senior faculty members. The case for this more expanded model of mentoring addresses issues such as the heavy workload that traditional models place on a single mentor and acknowledges that the needs of new faculty can be better addressed by working with a number of faculty members each contributing a varied set of skills and background.

In establishing mentor programs, universities would directly address a need frequently voiced by new hires and assist new faculty in becoming more positive and contributing members of the university community.

In addition to New Faculty Orientation, the EDC offers a learning community aimed at facilitating new faculty’s adjustment process as they begin their new venture at ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´. .